Labor Dept.: Unemployment Insurance Weekly Claims Report

May 7, 2009 -- SEASONALLY ADJUSTED DATA

In the week ending May 2, the advance figure for seasonally adjusted initial claims was 601,000, a decrease of 34,000 from the previous week's revised figure of 635,000. The 4-week moving average was 623,500, a decrease of 14,750 from the previous week's revised average of 638,250.

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The advance seasonally adjusted insured unemployment rate was 4.8 percent for the week ending April 25, an increase of 0.1 percentage point from the prior week's unrevised rate of 4.7 percent.

The advance number for seasonally adjusted insured unemployment during the week ending April 25 was 6,351,000, an increase of 56,000 from the preceding week's revised level of 6,295,000. The 4-week moving average was 6,207,250, an increase of 125,250 from the preceding week's revised average of 6,082,000.

The fiscal year-to-date average for seasonally adjusted insured unemployment for all programs is 4.953 million.

UNADJUSTED DATA

The advance number of actual initial claims under state programs, unadjusted, totaled 534,047 in the week ending May 2, a decrease of 46,640 from the previous week. There were 335,547 initial claims in the comparable week in 2008.

The advance unadjusted insured unemployment rate was 4.7 percent during the week ending April 25, unchanged from the prior week. The advance unadjusted number for persons claiming UI benefits in state programs totaled 6,255,432, a decrease of 46,247 from the preceding week. A year earlier, the rate was 2.2 percent and the volume was 2,956,644.

Extended benefits were available in Alaska, Arizona, Arkansas, California, Connecticut, the District of Columbia, Idaho, Illinois, Indiana, Kentucky, Maine, Massachusetts, Michigan, Minnesota, Montana, Nevada, New Jersey, North Carolina, Ohio, Oregon, Pennsylvania, Puerto Rico, Rhode Island, South Carolina, Vermont, Washington, and Wisconsin during the week ending April 18.

Initial claims for UI benefits by former Federal civilian employees totaled 1,114 in the week ending April 25, an increase of 62 from the prior week. There were 1,681 initial claims by newly discharged veterans, a decrease of 71 from the preceding week.

There were 16,605 former Federal civilian employees claiming UI benefits for the week ending April 18, a decrease of 984 from the previous week. Newly discharged veterans claiming benefits totaled 29,302, an increase of 708 from the prior week.

States reported 2,279,478 persons claiming EUC (Emergency Unemployment Compensation) benefits for the week ending April 18, a decrease of 6,708 from the prior week. EUC weekly claims include both first and second tier activity.

The highest insured unemployment rates in the week ending April 18 were in Oregon (7.6 percent), Michigan (7.2), Wisconsin (6.6), Pennsylvania (6.5), Idaho (6.4), Nevada (6.4), Rhode Island (6.1), New Jersey (5.8), Vermont (5.8), and Alaska (5.7).

The largest increases in initial claims for the week ending April 25 were in Michigan (+9,998), Massachusetts (+4,277), Kentucky (+3,681), North Carolina (+2,549), and New York (+2,219), while the largest decreases were in California (-10,833), Georgia (-4,174), South Carolina (-3,676), Wisconsin (-3,341), and New Jersey (-2,810).

Source: Labor Dept.